


Flower Petals?

by StarrySummers04



Series: What's Wrong with Charlie? [11]
Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Arguments, Distress, M/M, Matteusz is an angel, Mentions of genocide, Mpreg, Upset Charlie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 01:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 9,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8691184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarrySummers04/pseuds/StarrySummers04
Summary: What started as a relatively ordinary day soon spirals out of control when certain truths are revealed and the world starts to end. Again. (Loosely based on S01,E04 and S01,E05)





	1. Usual Morning

It was finally Friday, another long week at school was almost over and they could have 2 whole days to catch up on homework and relax together. Charlie had recently found that eating ginger biscuits would settle his stomach so he would have a couple before every meal and more often than not, his food would stay down. Both Charlie and Matteusz kept a packet in their bag so there were plenty for if and when Charlie needed any at school.

The day had started just like any other, Matteusz was awoken at 6:30am when he felt Charlie spring out of bed and run to the bathroom. Being the good boyfriend that he was, Matteusz got out of bed and followed Charlie to the bathroom, just like usual. He knelt down behind Charlie and rubbed his back until he had finished throwing up. Matteusz then grabbed the glass kept by the sink for this exact reason, filled it with water and passed it to Charlie who used it to swirl around his mouth before spitting it into the toilet. Charlie then leant against Matteusz as he pulled himself off the floor and flushed the toilet.

They went and got back into bed, curling up together, since they didn’t need to get up until 7am and they still had 40 minutes. At 6:45am, Charlie sat up and ate a couple of ginger biscuits so that he’d be able to have his breakfast. He then lay back down in Matteusz’s arms for another 10 minutes.

At 6:55am, Charlie rolled over to kiss Matteusz for the first time that morning. They didn’t get out of bed until 7:15am.

* * *

 

“What time do you call this?” Miss Quill asked when they finally got downstairs for their breakfast.  
“7:20.” Matteusz tried, looking at the clock.  
“Yes, exactly. It’s 7:20 not 7. You need to be quick if we’re going to leave by 8. And you’re both still in your pyjamas.” She complained.

Neither of them bothered to say anymore, knowing that nothing could redeem them in her eyes, this morning. Instead, they set about getting their breakfast, not wanting to be too late for school.

Matteusz had a bowl of cereal for his breakfast and as soon as he had finished, he went upstairs, grabbed the day’s clothes and got changed in the bathroom before doing his teeth. As Matteusz left the bathroom, he passed Charlie who entered with his arms full of clothes. Matteusz then went into the bedroom to put some shoes on when something caught his eyes.


	2. Curiosity

Matteusz couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer, it was slightly embarrassing. He’d been living with Charlie for at least two months now, and the Cabinet of Souls was on top of one of the dressers in their room. He knew it was wrong, but he just wanted to know what was inside, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Charlie when he said it was empty, Matteusz just wanted to see for himself.

In hindsight, asking Charlie may have been the better option, but since Charlie was so reluctant to volunteer any information about Rhodia, and he got incredibly defensive very quickly whenever Matteusz asked any questions, it was going to take forever to find anything out. And Matteusz couldn’t reign in his curiosity long enough for Charlie to offer the information, besides, it had been months.

Once stood in front of the Cabinet, Matteusz looked around for any sigh of Charlie, he should’ve still been in the bathroom, getting ready for the day, and Matteusz was likely to hear when he left. Seeing and hearing no sigh of his boyfriend, Matteusz put his hands on the Cabinet. That was when Charlie walked in.

* * *

 

“I’m sorry.” Matteusz blurted, immediately.

“It’s okay.” Charlie responded. “I know you get curious.”

“You don’t talk to me about your home that much.” Matteusz confessed. “I wanted to learn something.”

“Okay.” He breathed, as he moved to stand in front of the Cabinet, raising his hands to touch either side.

When it opened, Charlie was bathed in an orange glow, which made him look more incredible than usual as far as Matteusz was concerned because he was already glowing healthily due to his pregnancy. “Here’s my secret.” Charlie whispered. “It’s not empty.”


	3. Truth and Lies

“I’m sorry.” Charlie whispered, knowing that Matteusz would be upset that he had lied and that he hadn’t confided in him.

“You lied.” Matteusz murmured in shock.

“Yes.” Charlie agreed.

“Because sometimes princes have to lie?” Matteusz asked, anger evident in his voice.

“Because these are the souls of every Rhodian who’s ever lived, everyone I’ve ever known – my family, people I loved. I’m in charge of protecting them.” Charlie explained.

“And because it is not empty, it is also a weapon.” Matteusz stated, raising his voice as he threw some clothes off of the chair before sitting down.

“It’s also a weapon.” Charlie confirmed, tears shining in his eyes.

Charlie shut the doors to the Cabinet of Souls before turning his back on Matteusz and walking away. “I forgot my socks. And I still need to brush my teeth.” He said, leaving the room. As soon as he was in the bathroom and the door was closed, Charlie slid to the floor, allowing the tears to flow freely down his cheeks. He pulled his knees up to his chest as best as he could but his growing bump was making that difficult.

* * *

 

Matteusz could see the tears shining in Charlie’s eyes as he shut the doors to the Cabinet, and he couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty for the way he had reacted. It had upset Matteusz that Charlie hadn’t felt able to confide in him about the Cabinet not being empty. Matteusz felt that Charlie had only allowed him to know the truth because he was curious, not because of trust.

When it got to 7:55 and Charlie still hadn’t emerged from the bathroom, Matteusz went to investigate. “Charlie?” He called as he knocked on the door. The door opened and Charlie walked out, ignoring Matteusz and going into their bedroom, grabbing his shoes and sitting on the bed and putting them on before getting one of Matteusz’s jackets, zipping it up and picking up his bag. He then walked out of the roomed and headed downstairs. Matteusz said nothing as he quickly collected everything he would need for the day and followed Charlie downstairs.


	4. Parent's Evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting close to the part where I write about the baby's name and gender but I am still unsure of what to call them. I would really appreciate it if you could spare the time to write a comment suggesting a name or two. Thank you for all of your continued support with this series.

The walk to school was uneventful, despite the fact that they weren’t talking to each other, Charlie and Matteusz still walked side by side, fingers intertwined. Miss Quill wisely decided not to say anything.

Upon arriving at school, Charlie and Matteusz met up with Tanya who could immediately tell that there was something different with the couple but also stayed silent about it. During their form time, they were each given an envelope that turned out to be their autumn report and a letter for confirmation about parent’s evening.

* * *

 

“So, you’ve never had a parent’s evening?” Tanya asked Charlie as they walked down the corridor to their lockers.

“Princes tend not to.” Charlie replied.

“My parents always come but this time…” Matteusz trailed off. Charlie and Tanya both knew that this was a sensitive topic with Matteusz, he was still reeling from the rejection of his parents. Charlie grabbed his hand, rubbing the back of it in soothing circles. Matteusz gave him a small smile.

“Well, maybe Miss Quill can have a meeting with herself about the both of you and be done with it.” Tanya joked, Matteusz smiled.

“We do have other classes.” Charlie told her, dropping Matteusz’s hand to allow him to exchange some things between his locker and his bag. “I’d like to know how I can improve. Especially with this recent development in our lives, I’m going to need the extra help. Matteusz could probably benefit from it too, all the times I’ve needed him to stay by my side.” The two exchanged a quick kiss.

“You know, I don’t think Miss Quill’s going to go for that.” Tanya began.

“I’ll just order her to. I mean, my future improvements are a kind of personal protection.” Charlie remarked, smiling before making his way to English, a class he shares with April.

“It’s not hard to forget he’s an alien, is it?” Tanya asked Matteusz after she was certain Charlie was out of earshot.

“Yeah, it’s true.” Matteusz agreed, he was currently in the process of sorting things between his bag and his locker.

“Is he… all human?” Tanya stumbled through the question as Matteusz turned to look at her, slightly confused. “You know… um, like… down there?” She finally blurted, shifting her gaze to Matteusz’s crotch. He looked away, avoiding making eye contact, keeping his mouth shut and focusing on his bag again. “No? Okay, well, I’ll see you later then, bye.” Tanya rushed as she turned and walked away, trying not to laugh at the awkwardness of her curiosity.


	5. English with April

To be fair, April had been acting weirdly ever since the connection with Corakinus had been created, but lately things had been getting worrying. Particularly today.

Charlie had been slightly unfortunate this morning, after his discussion with Tanya and Matteusz had ended and he’d started heading towards English, Charlie was overcome with a bout of nausea and had to head to the nearest bathroom, making him late for class. Thankfully, his teacher was very understanding when he quietly slipped in before she started the main part of the lesson. (All of his teachers were still under the impression that he was currently fighting off a virus due to a weak immune system.)

Charlie took his usual place behind April, he was seated next to someone who he had jet to learn the name of, whatever their name was wasn’t of great importance to him. He could, however, automatically tell that something was off with April, more so than it usually was lately anyway.

Today’s lesson was all about the mind-set of a soldier; the teacher was interested in hearing the student’s opinions on what the soldiers from World War II would have been thinking or feeling at different stages of the war or before particular battles.

April was being completely insensitive, saying things that she was unlikely to have ever thought, never mind saying them. Charlie had a feeling that April was getting all of Corakinus’ thoughts due to the strong connection that only seemed to be getting stronger. April appeared to feel so strongly about this that she was arguing with the majority of the class, she had even risen out of her seat. Then, April suddenly had no idea what she had been talking about. It was like she’d been possessed.

Charlie never found out what happened during the rest of the lesson because he quickly had to grab his bag and run to the bathroom. After he had finished throwing up, he washed his mouth out with some of the water from his bottle before eating a couple of ginger biscuits to allow his stomach time to settle so that he would be able to have some lunch. Charlie then went to physics.


	6. Physics Discussion

Charlie made it to physics on time which he was pleased about, he didn’t want Matteusz to know that he’d thrown up twice since they last saw each other. Charlie didn’t want to have to go home and miss school, he was enjoying learning. So much new information.

The first thing that caught his attention was the absence of April and Ram, although he had realised that whatever was wrong with April was clearly very serious now. They desperately needed to see if there was something they could do to change what was happening, she had basically become a different person.

Today’s lesson involved watching a video about something or other, Charlie wasn’t paying attention because he still wasn’t feeling well and he wanted to talk to Miss Quill about parent’s evening. Charlie knew that it wasn’t going to go well. And it didn’t.

“You want me to what?” Miss Quill asked, not quite believing that Charlie had just stated that he wants her to attend parents evening for him.

“Parents evening.” Charlie repeated. “It’s apparently quite common.”

“I’m not going to your other teachers, hat in hand to ask after your wellbeing. Even in your current situation, in fact, especially in your current situation.” Miss Quill stated.

“Your job is to protect me. This protects my future prospects. And we don’t need to bring my current situation into this.” Charlie told her.

“Hello! They’re not even supposed to know that we live together. Your current situation is always going to be relevant as I now have an extra reason to look out for you and it means that I’m going to have to spend even longer with your other teachers to find out how you can improve and catch up when it’s no one’s fault but your own that you’re in this mess.” Miss Quill responded.

“You’ll figure something out. You’re always telling us how clever you are.” Charlie laughed, before his face got sterner. “I’m not in a mess so never refer to my current situation negatively. It’s a good thing, that I’m pleased about.”

“If we had ever met on the battlefield…” Miss Quill began.

“We didn’t and we won’t.” Charlie interrupted. “Do this. I command it.”

Miss Quill decided that the conversation was over and walked back to the front of the classroom to sit at her desk. Neither of them noticed that Tanya was now staring at Charlie, having heard the whole conversation.


	7. Lunch

Charlie and Matteusz had decided to sit outside for their lunch because it was unseasonably warm and Matteusz wanted to take advantage of the nice weather before it turned to rain and potentially, snow. For a change, Charlie was allowing Matteusz to ask him questions about the Cabinet of Souls because of the events that morning. Charlie was just pleased that Matteusz seemed to have forgiven him for not telling him sooner. Charlie didn’t really want to talk about any of it but he’d hardly told Matteusz anything about Rhodia and he knew this wasn’t fair as Matteusz was always open with him, talked about how life had been in Poland, what his parents were like – both before and after he came out. He also let Charlie ask whatever questions he wanted to. Partly because Charlie still didn’t understand humans very well.

  
“How does it work?” Matteusz asked. Charlie sighed.

  
“It only responds to the Rhodian leader. I activate it. Each soul then finds one of the people or creatures that you wish to eliminate.” Charlie explained.

  
“Do not use that word.” Matteusz interrupted. “It is a word that is used by very bad governments.”

  
“Fine. It’s to kill. And each Rhodian soul burns that other soul out of existence.” Charlie continued.

  
“And there are billions in the Cabinet? So you could kill billions more.” Matteusz clarified, grabbing some crisps and putting them in his mouth.

  
“Yes, nut only once. They burn themselves out whilst doing it. The whole idea is that it’s a single use weapon that you never have to use.” Charlie confirmed.

  
“And you never would destroy a planet, all those lives.” Matteusz queried.

  
“My planet was destroyed.” Charlie stated. Matteusz gave him an odd look but dropped the subject.

  
They carried on eating in silence for a little while until Matteusz spoke up again. “How have things been today? I have not asked how things have gone since we last spoke, even though it was only before you went to English. It was still a couple of hours ago.” Matteusz asked, placing a hand on Charlie’s leg.

  
“I ended up being sick.” Charlie admitted. “Just after I left you and Tanya, making me late for English and then I had to rush out early to throw up again. I feel fine now though, you don’t need to worry.”

  
Matteusz pulled him into a hug. “I’m always going to worry about you both because I love you. The main thing is that you’re feeling okay now.” Matteusz stated, pulling Charlie into quick kiss before they continued eating their lunch.


	8. Morality

Sixth form had finished for the day and Charlie was leaning against a bicycle rack, hand gently cradling his stomach. Matteusz was stood with Tanya who was on her phone, stood a little bit further away from Charlie. He playfully kicked her ass. “Isn’t this the wrong season for blooming?” Matteusz asked whilst giving her a pointed look.

“I don’t know. I’ve yet to see the seasons here.” Charlie commented.

Tanya walked over to Charlie and stood in front of him. “I don’t think I like how you order Miss Quill around.” She said. Matteusz had started to walk over to them but his attention was once again caught by the petals, so he walked over to the middle of the pavement before picking one up.

“What?” Charlie asked, confused by Tanya’s statement.

“It’s a punishment, isn’t it? She’s meant to protect you, not be your servant. Or your slave.” Tanya asserted.

“I know.” Charlie agreed. “I don’t know how many times I’ve had this exact conversation with her myself.” He laughed, moving from the bicycle rack he was leaning against. Neither of them noticed Matteusz, or the fact that he had just dropped the flower petal because it had ‘bitten’ him.

“My dad used to say that people don’t set out to be monsters, they start by getting a taste for it and they like it, so then they taste some more. And then before you know it…” Tanya explained. Matteusz had moved to sit on the bicycle rack where Charlie had previously been.

“I’m not being monstrous, I’m being just.” Charlie argued. “Please don’t question the morality of my culture.” He added, looking offended.

“He doesn’t like it when you do that.” Matteusz warned.

“If the morality of your culture keeps on looking like slavery, then you’re not really going to stop me from asking questions.” Tanya responded.

“You don’t know what she did. You don’t know what we suffered! And my control over the creature inside her head may be the only thing keeping us all alive.” Charlie explained, looking between Tanya and Matteusz as tears of frustration started to form in his eyes.

“But she’s helping us here. And the world which you both may have done things on is gone.” Tanya disagreed. Charlie’s expression turned to sadness at the unnecessary reminder of what he’d lost before his expression hardened.

“Miss Quill is my business and I’ll thank you to stay out of it.” Charlie snarled.

“Oh, I really don’t think you want to go talking to me like royalty, Prince.” Tanya threatened.

Matteusz had now decided that it would be safer if the subject was changed. “There is something weird here.” He pointed out.

“With flower petals?” Charlie asked, angrily as he turned around to face his boyfriend. Matteusz gestured around them.


	9. What Dorothea Knows

Miss Quill walked down the corridor, heels clicking behind her. She opened the door to Dorothea’s office. “What do you want? There’s something urgent I need to sort at home.” She asked.

  
“I assume you’ll be performing the parent and teacher duties for Charlie at parent’s evening. Charlie Smith, is it? I don’t see so many Smith’s these days. It’s rather like John. Have you noticed that no one under the age of thirty-five is called John anymore?” Dorothea rambled. “Please, sit. I won’t bite. It is interesting, though. The work I had to do to track down your story.”

  
Miss Quill entered to office and shut the door.

* * *

  
“All this fascinating information and the only thing I keep thinking to myself is, you don’t really seem like an Andrea.” Dorothea admitted, sitting down opposite Miss Quill.  
“Yeah, well, everyone calls me Quill. Look, is this about parent’s evening? Because…” Miss Quill started.

  
“This isn’t the 1950’s.” Dorothea interrupted. “Trust me when I say that I’ve seen more unusual housing arrangements that yours and Charlie’s. Guardianship is quite common.”

  
“Yeah.” Miss Quill muttered.

  
“Slightly tricky with Matteusz but he’s seventeen and that’s borderline on his own wishes versus those of his parents. And if they threw him out…” Dorothea continued.

  
“How do you know all this?” Miss Quill asked.

  
“The governors like a well-run school.” Dorothea answered before resuming what she was saying about Matteusz. “If Matteusz’s parents threw him out then it doesn’t seem to be anything to do with them, and besides, if he’s old enough and mature enough to be a father himself, it shouldn’t be seen as an issue.”

  
Miss Quill looked astounded at this woman’s advanced knowledge of everything that was going on in the school around her before altering the subject. “I’ve seen some of the resources of the governors.”

  
“Yes, robots are rather expressive. Not going to be easy to replace.” Dorothea told her before completely changing the subject. “Tell me, Miss Quill, have you seen any squirrels today?”

  
“What?” Miss Quill was very confused.

  
“Or birds? Heard any birdsong this morning?” She asked.

  
“Are you quite insane?” Miss Quill questioned.


	10. Arguments

The deal was that Charlie and Matteusz would wait for Miss Quill and then they would all walk home together so that she could keep an eye on Charlie but today, Miss Quill hadn’t appeared and Charlie wanted to get home so they set off without her.

  
Charlie was walking on the pavement with his hands in his pockets to cradle his growing bump, whereas, Matteusz was walking along the wall at Charlie’s side with his arms at full stretch to attempt to maintain his balance. “Are there more of them than a moment ago?” Matteusz asked Charlie, putting his arms down to gesture to the petals.

  
“Why are you giving me such a hard time about this?” Charlie asked, completely ignoring his boyfriend’s question. “It’s the duty of a prince to save his people.”

  
“Duty is another word of bad government. And how is this saving? They are souls, they have already live their lives.” Matteusz argued. Charlie tried to avoid meeting his boyfriend’s eyes. “What? What else are you not telling me?” Matteusz asked, his voice raising in anger.

  
“The children’s story. In the hands of the right person, the Cabinet of Souls isn’t just a weapon. It’s a way of bringing them all back.” Charlie admitted.

  
“What?” Matteusz asked in disbelief.

  
“In the hands of a hero, the souls take over the bodies instead of just burning them. So all of Rhodia is reborn in a different shape.” Charlie explained.

  
“An entire race is still killed.” Matteusz told him.

  
“I know.” Charlie agreed.

  
“And you think you are this hero?” Matteusz questioned.

  
“No, no, I told you, it’s a children’s story, a way of believing in heaven.” Charlie clarified.

  
“So you don’t believe it?” Matteusz shouted.

  
“It’s hope.” Charlie whispered, tears shining in his eyes, a hand now resting protectively across his stomach. “I know that it’s stupid and childish, and no adult Rhodian ever believes in it, but it’s hope. Of course I’m not this hero but after everything I’ve lost, I need something to believe in. If I can keep the Cabinet safe, maybe, one day…” Charlie trailed off, silent tears falling down his face.

  
Matteusz went to move towards him but then Tanya appeared. “Ram said that April’s body has been taken over by the Shadow Kin.” She informed them before adding, “His voice sounded kind of funny – I think they had sex.”

  
“Ram and the Shadow Kin?” Charlie asked looking at Matteusz. Tanya sighed.


	11. Dorothea's Offer

“Inert, no apparent intelligence, nothing we can argue with. Just a plant with an appetite.” Dorothea told Miss Quill as she brought one of the petals over to her. Dorothea then let it ‘bite’ her to show Miss Quill exactly how much trouble they are actually in. Because when Dorothea place the flower petal on the coffee table, it split into two and then into four. “I fed one of these an hour ago, and from that single drop of blood, it’s doubled, doubled, doubled again…” Dorothea told Miss Quill. 

“And it’s eating squirrels.” Miss Quill remarked sarcastically. 

“Probably all it can manage at this point, but not for long. We think a single petal slipped through a crack in space-time, just last night, and look at how quickly it has spiraled. And it’s not stopping. Doubled, doubled, doubled again.” Dorothea explained. 

“So those of us that it doesn’t eat…” Miss Quill began. 

“Will be swamped, suffocated. We are quite doomed. Unless you help us” Dorothea finished. At the confused look on Miss Quill’s face, she elaborated further. “Oh, there’s a way, trust me. And I have been authorised to say that if you help us solve our little problem here, we may be able to help you solve yours.” Dorothea then stood up. 

“Mine?” Miss Quill questioned as Dorothea sat down on the empty seat next to her. 

“How would you like to get that creature out of your head once and for all? How would you like your own free will back, to do with whatever you please?” Dorothea asked. Miss Quill smirked. 


	12. April's in Trouble

As they set off to April’s house, Tanya was running in front of Charlie and Matteusz. Charlie was trying to run but had to stop, clutching his stomach before walking to the edge of the pavement and throwing up. Tanya noticed that Charlie and Matteusz were no longer behind her and turned around, rolling her eyes. Charlie’s pregnancy was cause a lot of issues for the ‘Bunghole Defense Squad’, especially when they needed to get anywhere in a hurry.

  
“You two go on ahead, get to April.” Charlie groaned.  
“I’m not leaving you.” Matteusz replied.

  
A short while later, they were back on their way to April’s. Tanya was once again running ahead of the boys as they ran at Charlie’s speed, hand linked.  
When Tanya, Matteusz and Charlie ran through the back gate to try and get to April, it was to find her stood over her dad, who was on the floor, bleeding. April had the Shadow Kin swords in her hands. “April!” Tanya shouted. “What’s going on?”

  
Matteusz was stood in front of Charlie to try and shield him and their baby from any harm.

“I don’t think that you can save me.” April whispered turning to Ram.  
“April…” He began, she turned away from him and started walking towards her mum.  
“Forgive me.” April said, as she pushed her hand into her mother’s chest. This made Jackie scream in pain.

  
“April! What are you doing?!” Ram exclaimed. Charlie, Matteusz and Tanya looked on in shock.

  
“APRIL!” Jackie screamed before falling out of her wheelchair as April’s hand left her chest. April had fallen back too, only to be caught by Ram.

  
Jackie straightened her leg. “What have you done?” She asked. “My God! April, what have you done?”  
“What have you done?” Ram questioned.

  
April gasped for air as her eyes turned red/orange. “He knows. He’s found me. The connection, he’s followed the trail, he’s coming here!” April exclaimed, walking around her garden frantically. “He’s going to kill us all. I can’t let him do that.” The swords appeared in her hands again.

Tanya yelped in shock as Charlie and Matteusz grabbed onto each other, all previous arguments forgotten. “He knows where I am. But I know where you are, and how to find you!” April shouted at the air. Sha slashed at the air with the swords and to everyone’s surprise, a space-time tear appeared. (Or ‘Bunghole’ as Tanya insisted it was called.)

  
Charlie and Matteusz moved from where they were stood to be able to see, Matteusz still standing protectively in front of his boyfriend. “That’s their home. That’s the realm of the Shadow Kin.” Charlie stated.

  
“April, what are you doing?!” Ram shouted, sensing that she was about to do something that could be considered rash or stupid.  
“I’m going to get my heart back.” She replied as she ran towards the tear.

  
“April, no!” Tanya screamed. As soon as April had jumped through the tear, it started closing rapidly.  
“Tell my dad.” Ram said before running backwards.  
“Ram?” Tanya questioned. “Ram, what are you doing?” Ram had started running towards the tear.  
“Following!” He answered as he jumped through the tear. It sealed itself behind him.  
Tanya looked around in shock. April’s mum and dad seemed to be struggling to process what had just happened. Charlie was clinging onto Matteusz who had his arms around Charlie just as tightly.

  
They were in trouble now.


	13. The Solution

“No, you can’t possibly get this thing out of my head. It’s designed to kill me if you try.” Miss Quill argued.  
“We have our ways.” Dorothea stated.  
“What…? Who is this ‘we’? Are you this UNIT?” Miss Quill asked.  
“Far more modest than that. When ‘Ever Upward Reach’ took over Coal Hill as an academy, we installed a new Board of Governors, one focused on keeping the school safe, keeping it clear, keeping it ready.” Dorothea explained.

  
“Ready for what?” Miss Quill questioned.  
“Besides, governments have a way of tripping over themselves, slightly too concerned with rights, it’s terribly inefficient.” Dorothea continued.

  
“Ah, so you’re a robot.” Miss Quill guessed.  
“Goodness gracious me, no!” Dorothea exclaimed.  
“Okay, just wait… You didn’t help with the Shadow Kin and you didn’t help with the really quite hot Dragon tattoo guy.” Miss Quill queried.

  
“We thought we’d see how you did on you own. You proved remarkably capable, my dear. But, this time, we feel that your attention is somewhat diverted from the main threat, so we’ve come to you directly.” Dorothea explained.  
“And you’re offering me my free will back?” She questioned.  
“There is a way. It’s not without risk.” Dorothea reminded her.  
“All right, and what would you expect me to do for this… privilege?” Miss Quill asked.

  
“What are your thoughts on genocide?”

  
“From what we understand, he’s the only one who can use the weapon.” Dorothea began.  
“He is, but he won’t do it. He lied to me about it even working all this time. Irritatingly moral, that one.” Miss Quill added.  
“He’s just going to have to get over that. They don’t burn, you can’t mulch them, melt them with acid or poison them with pesticide. Meanwhile, they eat living tissue and they multiply. That’s it. That’s all they do.” Dorothea explained.  
“And you know all of this since this morning?” Miss Quill asked.

  
“I told you, we’re efficient but even we won’t find a solution before there are enough of those things to start eating full sized humans. The Cabinet of Souls is the closest weapon of mass destruction that we have to hand.” Dorothea expanded.  
“And you want me to convince Charles to use it?” Miss Quill asked.  
“Convince? No, my dear Miss Quill, there is no time for convincing. I want you to force him.” Dorothea finished.


	14. April's Gone (So has Ram)

“Where is my daughter?” Jackie asked as soon as she was back in her wheelchair. Charlie and Tanya were still staring at the area where the tear had disappeared and Matteusz was crouching down to investigate the petals again. “That boy, Ram, he said ‘Tell my dad.’ That means you know something, so you better start talking.” Charlie has turned around to look at Jackie, as had Tanya. Matteusz was averting his gaze.

  
“April’s sharing a heart with a murdering alien and it looks like she’s cut a hole into his world to try and kill him.” Tanya explained.

  
“Right, so this is a mushroom flashback.” April’s dad stated.

  
“Sorry, she reached into her mum’s chest and healed her spine. I’d let that open up my world view just a little bit.” Tanya argued looking between April’s parents.

  
“Okay, just let me set that aside for a minute. Do you know how to find April?” Jackie asked.

  
“No. But we do know someone who might be able to help.” Charlie replied.

* * *

  
Charlie had already tried to call Miss Quill several times but to no avail, she was clearly busy doing something. Whilst Charlie was waiting for Miss Quill to call him back, Matteusz walked over to his boyfriend and pulled him into a tight hug before joining their lips. Tanya tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes as April’s parents looked on in surprise. They were even more surprised at what happened next.

  
When Matteusz pulled away from the kiss, he placed his hands on Charlie’s stomach before asking, “Are you both okay?” Charlie placed his hands over Matteusz’s and nodded. He was then pulled back into a hug as Matteusz kissed his forehead.

  
It was then that Charlie’s phone rang. It really wasn’t a surprise as Miss Quill always seemed to know what to do to ensure that Charlie and Matteusz were constantly interrupted.

* * *

  
“She says she needs to talk to me about the flowers.” Charlie told Matteusz and Tanya after the phone call had finished.

  
“What’s wrong?” Matteusz asked, picking up from his boyfriend’s facial expression that there was something off.

  
“She sounded… weird.” Charlie replied.

  
“I’m going to need more to go on than that. Weird how?” Matteusz questioned further, laughing at Charlie’s cluelessness.

  
“Happy.” Charlie answered. “We need to get to the school.”

  
“Right, I’ll drive.” April’s dad volunteered.

  
“I will drive.” Jackie forced.

  
“She will drive.” April’s dad echoed as they headed towards the car, Matteusz following. Tanya turned to Charlie.

  
“I need to find Ram’s dad. April isn’t the only one that is missing.”


	15. Priorities

The car journey to school wasn’t a long one but it certainly felt that way. Jackie was curious to find out what Matteusz had meant, so she looked at him in the car’s mirror before asking, “What did you mean when you asked about ‘both’ being okay?” Jackie had a pretty good idea of what had been meant in that exchange but she wanted them to confirm it. 

“Oh, um… nothing.” Matteusz mumbled. 

“Look, I’m not daft and I’m sure you both realise that.” Jackie stated. “The other girl was right about world views altering.” Charlie was sat in the rear of the car with Matteusz, hands tightly linked. They shared a look. 

“I’m from a different planet.” Charlie finally caved. “And I’m sure that you’ve been able to guess from our behaviour, that I’m pregnant.” 

“I thought so.” Jackie responded. “Was it planned?” 

Charlie and Matteusz flushed red before shaking their heads, no.  

* * *

 

Tanya had gone elsewhere to try and find Ram’s dad to let him know about the current situation, whilst Charlie and Matteusz went to Coal Hill with April’s parents. 

When they got to Coal Hill, Charlie and Matteusz kept their fingers intertwined as they made their way towards the entrance, only for Miss Quill and Dorothea, the new headmistress to be heading towards them. “We need to talk.” Miss Quill called to Charlie. 

“Mrs MacLean, this is a surprise.” Dorothea noted. 

As they all came to a stop, Matteusz let go of Charlie’s hand in favour of wrapping an arm around his waist. “April’s gone. I need you to get her back.” Charlie told Miss Quill. 

“Yeah, priorities have changed, Charles. We’re under attack.” Miss Quill replied. 

“By who?” Charlie asked, confused. At that moment, April’s dad shouted in pain, he’d been ‘bitten’ by one of the petals. 

“Wait. Watch.” Dorothea said. They all watched in shock as the petal started to multiply. 

“The flower petals are attacking us?” Charlie asked in disbelief as Matteusz tightened his grip around Charlie. 

“They’ll bury us by tomorrow morning. It will be quite gruesome.” Dorothea answered. 

“But you can help us, Charles, because it turns out that you’ve been lying. Oh my, how you’ve been lying…” Miss Quill stated.  

“I care very little about your opinions of my actions, Quill.” Charlie responded. 


	16. Ill-timed Discussions

Charlie, Matteusz and Miss Quill were making their way to Dorothea’s office. “Who was that woman? And why does she know so much?” Charlie asked as they walked through the door. Once Matteusz had shut the door, Miss Quill slapped Charlie so hard he fell over. Miss Quill recoiled, screaming in pain because of the Arn. 

“It was worth it.” She breathed once the pain had subsided. Matteusz rushed over to Charlie and helped him off the floor, guiding him to sit down on one of the chairs. 

“What is the matter with you?” Matteusz asked Miss Quill, as she moved towards Charlie again. Matteusz stayed stood in front of him, pushing Miss Quill away. “You will not!” He spat as her pushed her away. 

“Oh, stop it, stop it, I’ll die before I do any real harm.” She shouted. “Remember? Remember that? A punishment from his people who were destroyed, a punishment to my people who were also destroyed. That’s billions of people _gone_ , murdered! And _you_ … _You_! All this time to take your revenge and you said nothing!” 

Matteusz remained stood in front of Charlie, hands on Miss Quill’s shoulders to keep her back as she screamed and shouted at Charlie. “Matteusz and I will not have you harm our baby, and besides the choice isn’t yours.” Charlie stated, resting one hand on his bump. 

“Oh, God, if I didn’t have this thing in my head!” Miss Quill threatened as she walked to the other side of the room. 

“But you do. And you will do as I say.” Charlie reminded her. 

“You have a weapon that would kill the Shadow Kin.” Miss Quill said. 

“And every Rhodian soul that I have stewardship of!” Charlie responded. 

“Plus the whole mass murder thing?” Matteusz put in. 

“So it’s not enough that you make me your slave…” Miss Quill began. 

“Prisoner.” Charlie growled. 

“…you’re going to make me stand by, helpless, and watch those who slaughtered my people just live and thrive?” She finished. 

“You killed my people, too.” Charlie argued. 

“In war!” Miss Quill stated. 

“In terrorist acts!” Charlie disagreed. 

“It’s possible this may not be the best time.” Matteusz advised as they both turned around to find Dorothea at the door with April’s parents. 

“No, it isn’t.” Dorothea agreed. 


	17. Walking Home

Charlie, Matteusz and Miss Quill had to sit and listen to Dorothea’s discussion with the MacLean’s about April. Matteusz thought that Tanya had presented a very good point about Ram having followed April and gone missing too. 

As soon as they were able to, Miss Quill got them to leave the office. “We need to get to the Cabinet.” She stated as soon as they had left the school, practically running. 

“We don’t even know if it’ll work on a plant.” Charlie pointed out. 

“It ingests living matter which would suggest that even the tiniest soul lives within and that’s what the weapon needs as a target, isn’t it?” Dorothea asked as Charlie turned to look at Miss Quill. 

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t tell her.” Miss Quill commented. 

“Venus Flytraps ingest matter, they don’t have souls.” Matteusz said. 

“Oh, you think so, do you?” Dorothea asked. 

“What’s going on? Where’s April?” Jackie shouted, appearing at the entrance of the school. Charlie, Matteusz, Miss Quill and Dorothea turned around. 

“You should stay at the school.” Dorothea advised. “This is where the cracks in space-time are centred so she’ll almost certainly come out here.” 

“Are you sure? Because if you think about those sentences, not one of them made any sense.” April’s dad asked, completely lost and confused. 

“I’ve got a positive vision.” Dorothea replied. 

“Come on!” Miss Quill urged. 

“She’s not coming.” Charlie stated, pointing to Dorothea. 

The walk to their house seemed to take forever, Charlie had an almost permanent frown on his face as they walked. Miss Quill had sped ahead but neither Charlie or Matteusz even bothered trying to keep up. “I don’t want to do it.” Charlie mumbled. 

“You don’t want to do what? Use the Cabinet of Souls?” Matteusz asked, Charlie nodded. “I don’t really see to many options here.” Matteusz pointed out. Charlie’s walked had almost slowed to a stop. Matteusz grabbed his hands, stopping completely. “I love you.” He stated, pulling Charlie into his arms. Charlie had started to cry, to be honest, Matteusz was quite surprised that he hadn’t started to cry before now at the turn of events that their afternoon had taken. He certainly felt like doing so himself, and his hormones weren’t jumbled up from being pregnant like his boyfriends were. 

Miss Quill had reappeared. “Hurry up!” She shouted. They kept their hands linked and continued walking towards their house, not bothering to walk at a faster pace than they previously had been, Miss Quill could wait. 


	18. The Weapon

Once they made it back to the house, Charlie, Matteusz and Miss Quill all went up to the couple’s bedroom, and then down the steps to the area containing the Cabinet. “You have a weapon that could kill all the Shadow Kin, right now.” Miss Quill reminded Charlie. 

“You’d leave this world to its destruction? Our destruction?” Charlie asked. 

“It’s a small price to pay for the destruction of our enemies.” Miss Quill replied.  

“You are heartless. Like all Quill.” Charlie stated. 

“No, I am grieving, Prince.” Miss Quill protested, tears in her eyes. “You call me a terrorist. You call me a slave…” 

“ **You** call you a slave.” Charlie interrupted. 

“Everything I did, everything, was for my people! For the proud Quill who saw their life taken from them by the greedy…” Miss Quill shouted before cutting herself off. 

“I never took anyone’s life. I would have tried to be a fair leader.” Charlie argued. 

“And you still can be! You can be the greatest leader your people ever had.” Miss Quill told him. 

“And the last.” 

Miss Quill walked towards the balcony as Matteusz moved from where he had been, perched on the corner of the bed he shared with Charlie, trying to ignore the argument and the shouting going on between Miss Quill and Charlie. Matteusz moved to stand by his boyfriend’s side, taking his hand and leading him to sit down. If Charlie got too stressed or too wound up then it could have a negative effect on the baby. 

“This planet, it never ceases to stop talking about luck or fate and destiny. Well, I believe in none of those things. I believe that life tries to kill you from the moment you are born and the only proper response is to fight back, at every moment.” Miss Quill explained. 

“If I use this weapon on the Shadow Kin, then this world dies.” Charlie told her, rising from the chair to stand in front of her. “Everyone on it. Including you.” 

“The life I’m currently living doesn’t make me weep at the prospect.” Miss Quill said. 

“That wasn’t our deal!” Dorothea exclaimed as she entered the room. 

“What…? What deal? Who is this woman? How did she get inside of our house?” Charlie questioned. 

“You may want to calm down. I can’t imagine all this stress is good for you or for your baby. Besides, you don’t need to listen to her, Charlie. We need your help. We can see what kind of person you are.” Dorothea began. 

“Look; I’m handling this, all right?” Miss Quill said. 

“Who’s ‘we’?” Charlie asked. 

“And how do you know about our baby?” Matteusz questioned. 

Dorothea ignored Matteusz for the time being. “You obviously have a good heart, you care what happens. Charlie… Prince, we need you to save this planet.” Dorothea pleaded. 

Charlie looked around the room, eyes lingering the longest on Matteusz. “No.” He stated, moving to stand beside his boyfriend, their joined hands now resting on Charlie’s stomach. 


	19. Under Threat

“What did you just say?” Miss Quill asked.

“I don’t think you understand the threat we’re under.” Dorothea breathed as Charlie moved away from Matteusz to stand in front of the Cabinet.

“I understand it perfectly well. I also understand what you don’t. Whatever deal you think you made with her, she’ll betray it in a second to get what she wants.” Charlie explained to Dorothea.

“Hey!” Miss Quill protested.

“You already have.” Matteusz pointed out, moving to stand by Charlie’s side again.

“Yes, of course we know that.” Dorothea agreed.

“Hey!” Miss Quill repeated.

“But she got me through your front door, didn’t she? She brought me to the weapon itself, and believe me…” She began, pulling out a gun. “…something will be fired today.”

* * *

 

“Only a Rhodian can operate the Cabinet, correct?” Dorothea asked. When no one answered, she fired a bullet into the ceiling. “Correct?” She repeated.

“Yes.” Miss Quill breathed. “Not even a Quill can.”

“How do you know all of this?” Charlie asked.

“AS I said, the governors are resourceful.” Dorothea repeated.

“You can’t force me.” Charlie stated. “I won’t be forced.”

Dorothea pointed her gun at Matteusz. “Really?” Charlie and Matteusz shared a look. Charlie started walking towards Dorothea.

“If you harm him, I will stand by and watch you die.” Charlie growled.

“Yeah, a topic on which I concur. We’re using the weapon for something else.” Miss Quill added, moving to stand beside Charlie.

“You see, I don’t believe that you will make us all pay, Charlie. I think you’re a better person than that.” Dorothea mused.

“You have no idea what kind of person I am. Or what’s at stake here. If I use it, I will have nothing. The souls of my people…” Charlie began, his emotions starting to take over as silent tears streamed down his face. (He’s actually quite surprised he’s lasted this long on such a sensitive subject without crying.)

“… will have saved the souls of another people.” Dorothea reminded him, whilst finishing his sentence.

“But not destroyed the right people.” Miss Quill added.

“Which would make you as bad as the Shadow Kin.” Matteusz insisted. “The Shadow Kin, who kill whole species.” Then it dawned on them.

“If we could trick them somehow. Get them to attack the petals.” Charlie stated.

“And then have the Shadow Kin here on Earth? I don’t think so.” Dorothea cut him off.

“The you could use the Cabinet to kill them all and everybody’s happy.” Miss Quill snapped.

“But how? How could we do it?” Matteusz asked.

“If we had gone after April like I’d wanted to do in the first place…!” Charlie began, turning around to shout at Miss Quill.

Dorothea aimed her gun at Matteusz’s feet and fired it. Matteusz had to jump to avoid getting a bullet through his foot. “That is not the plan.” She stated calmly. “There is no time. This is not a debate. Believe me when I say I have enough bullets in this gun to make sure this afternoon goes exactly how I want.” She pointed the gun back at Matteusz as he shared a look with Charlie before discreetly pulling out his phone.


	20. Lost

“Look at it this way, if you use the Cabinet of Souls on the petals then you save us all. You and Matteusz can live happily ever after with your new child.” Dorothea told Charlie.

“You’re wrong. I die either way.” Charlie responded, beginning to cry again. Today had been a bit too much for all of his limits.

“What?” Matteusz asked, heartbroken.

“If I use it, I really am lost. I lose all hope. I lose all of Rhodia’s past and even the faintest chance for its future. If I use it, I lose you.” He explained, looking at Matteusz.

“But if you don’t use it, you lose him too.” Dorothea added. “It’s really less of a pickle than you seem to think.”

“I’m lost and alone.” Charlie cried.

“You are not alone.” Matteusz responded. He then moved forwards to gather Charlie into his arms, ignoring the fact that Dorothea still had her gun trained on him. His boyfriend needed comforting, so that was Matteusz’s first priority.

“I lost everything once before and… Now, now I’m going to lose it all over again.” Charlie stated, his cries turning to hysterical sobs even though they were muffled by Matteusz’s shoulder.

“If you’re ever lost, I will find you. I will be your help.” Matteusz told him gently, pulling away from the hug to join their lips briefly, before gathering Charlie back into his arms. “And let’s not forget about our baby, hey, that should be a constant reminder to you that you are not alone and that you have people who love you.” Charlie threw his arms around Matteusz’s neck and sobbed into his chest again.

“God, young love.” Dorothea muttered. “So beautiful.”

“Get on with it.” Miss Quill spat.

* * *

 

Charlie pulled back from Matteusz’s embrace, hoping that he was making the right decision. “It’s now or never. We will be overwhelmed in moments.” Dorothea urged as Charlie went and stood in front of the Cabinet of Souls. Both he and Matteusz looked out onto their balcony to see that it was covered in petals, and there were more by the second.

“Try to still love me.” Charlie asked, looking at Matteusz.


	21. The Souls of the Rhodia

“We gather the souls of the Rhodia. Now is the hour of our need.” Charlie began.

“You can still do it. You can still kill the Shadow Kin.” Miss Quill reminded him.

“We would all die.” Dorothea repeated.

“Everybody dies someday.” Miss Quill argued.

“This weapon, never to be used. This weapon in which we rest ourselves, so that it will never be used. This weapon of such destruction that is never to be used…” Charlie continued as the weapon turned from green to red.

“Oh, hell’s bells. I’d forgotten how up themselves the Rhodians were…” Miss Quill muttered.

“This weapon to end all weapons…” Charlie cut himself off. “This is where I declare my intention, who I wish to use the weapon against. There’s no going back from here.” He told them, looking absolutely terrified and Matteusz seemed to be the only one who could sense this. Matteusz was incredibly worried about the effect doing this would have on his boyfriend, and by further extent, what would happen to their baby.

“There’s never been any going back for us, Prince. You are the last Rhodian and I am the last Quill. Punish them who made us so!” Miss Quill requested.

“More would die. This planet, the souls of every Rhodian who ever lived.” Charlie responded.

“By leaving the Shadow Kin alive, you guarantee that billions more will die on countless worlds. Would you really sacrifice your entire people just for the love of a few?” She asked. Charlie looked at Matteusz who shook his head. “I don’t doubt you love him. I was in love once, I know what it looks like. But you are a prince and you have said it yourself, you have duties beyond what is personal.” Miss Quill said gently.

“Don’t listen to her, Charlie. You have to do it now!” Dorothea exclaimed.

“Be glorious.” Miss Quill suggested. “All war is sacrifice, but you can end the one they wage on the universe forever, and to what better purpose can a life and a death be put? Be a hero.”


	22. Matteusz to the Rescue

“Forgive me.” Dorothea started, moving in front of Matteusz and pointing her gun at Charlie’s stomach, at their baby. “But I would rather be alive than glorious.”

“Now I could take that gun off you…” Miss Quill remarked.

“Yes, but in time, do you think?” Dorothea asked in response.

Matteusz had cautiously picked one of their belongings off of a shelf before using it to whack Dorothea over the head with. She crumpled to the floor, unconscious. “Even with a gun, you should never turn your back on an angry Pole. Especially when you just threatened the lives of the ones they love, when you threaten their family.” Matteusz snarled at her unconscious form.

Charlie and Miss Quill then watched in surprise as Matteusz picked up the gun before walking over to the balcony doors, opening them slightly, throwing the gun out and closing the doors again, ensuring that none of the petals had managed to get in. He then turned around, registering the looks of surprise on Charlie and Miss Quill’s faces. “I don’t like guns.” Matteusz stated, moving to stand beside Charlie.

“Do it. Do it now!” Miss Quill urged, having gotten over her surprise much quicker than Charlie.


	23. Crisis Averted

Matteusz, standing next to Charlie, was resting a comforting hand on his lower back. Charlie really wanted to rest one of his hands on his bump as he found it very soothing in times of distress but unfortunately his hands were full. “I declare unto you my intention. I declare to you the enemy that endangers all of Rhodia.” Charlie stated. Miss Quill placed a hand on his shoulder. Charlie kept his gaze on Matteusz at all times. They locked eyes, Matteusz nodded. “I give you my intent.”

By now, Dorothea had come around and was beginning to sit up, rubbing the back of her head. “Look.” She called, pointing to the balcony. They all turned to watch, Charlie and Matteusz in relief, as the petals were devoured by the shadows. Matteusz walked over to the balcony and opened the doors, so that they could all get a clearer look at what was happening. He then turned to Charlie who had appeared by his side before smiling.

Charlie then turned around as the weapon changed from red, back to its original green before walking back over to the Cabinet of Souls and placing it back inside. “No, no, no!” Miss Quill shouted.

“Step away from me, Quill.” Charlie ordered.

“You can still kill them all! Kill the Shadow Kin!” She exclaimed.

“No. That is Charlie’s decision and he has clearly chosen not to.” Matteusz argued. “It would also make him a monster.”

“When your entire people have been slaughtered before your very eyes, then you can talk to me about monsters!” Miss Quill yelled. “You will use the Cabinet of Souls against the Shadow Kin. Maybe not today, but trust me, you will.” She then turned and walked out of their room.

“She’ll get over it.” Dorothea stated, moving towards the door.

“You pulled a gun on me, my boyfriend and our baby.” Charlie said.

“You’ll get over it.” Dorothea replied, heading for the door.

“I won’t. And I won’t forgive either.” Matteusz warned her. Dorothea froze in the doorway momentarily before completing her exit.

 


	24. I Will Find You

It had been a couple of hours since everything had happened. Since the attack of the flower petals. After Dorothea had left, Charlie had been violently sick, he spent an hour and a half with his head over the toilet, all of the day’s stress coming up at once. Matteusz had stayed with him the entire time, getting him glass of water after glass of water. Charlie was exhausted by the time he had finished so Matteusz led him to their bed to lie down before going to the kitchen to get himself some food. It had been a long day.

When he came back up, Charlie was stood in front of the Cabinet, staring without blinking. Matteusz moved behind him, wrapping his arms around Charlie and joining their hands, resting them on the swell of Charlie’s stomach.

“Kochany.” Matteusz whispered, kissing Charlie’s neck. “What would you have done?”

“I want to say that I don’t know. But I do. It’s you. It’ll always be you.” Charlie breathed, turning around in his boyfriend’s arms. “I think I’m lost, Matteusz.”

“Then I will find you.” Matteusz smiled, kissing Charlie’s forehead.

Charlie then pressed his face into Matteusz’s neck as his boyfriend cradled the back of his head.


	25. A Quieter Night

Miss Quill had left the house in anger after Charlie had refused to kill the Shadow Kin and had yet to return, allowing the couple to have a quiet night together.

As much as Charlie wanted to feel Matteusz properly, to be reassured that everything was okay, that they were okay, neither of them had enough energy or stamina. Instead, they had curled up together on the sofa in the living room and watched a couple of episodes of the Vampire Diaries before venturing into the kitchen to get food. Matteusz prepared himself pasta and meatballs whereas Charlie had a couple of slices of toast, followed by 4 ginger biscuits.

After that, they each had a cup of tea before trailing upstairs to go to bed despite the reasonably early hour. Since discovering his pregnancy, Charlie had taken to wearing pyjamas to bed and because the weather was turning and getting colder, Matteusz wore pyjama bottoms but remained shirtless.

They curled up together in bed, legs tangled together and Charlie used Matteusz as a pillow, one arm cradling their unborn child, fingers intertwined. “You know I love you.” Matteusz whispered into the darkness.

“I’m pregnant, of course I know you love me.” Charlie replied, echoing Matteusz’s earlier words.

“I will always love you. No matter what you do. No matter what you have to do.” Matteusz admitted.

“Even genocide?” Charlie asked, surprised.

“I won’t like it, but yes, even genocide.” Matteusz confirmed.

Charlie moved his head from where it had been resting on Matteusz’s chest to join their lips. Downstairs, a door slammed. “I take it Miss Quill has returned.” Matteusz remarked. Charlie pulled him into another kiss.


End file.
